The 2008 launch of an emergency UN humanitarian appeal to assist one million poor farmers in the northeast provides further evidence that poverty remains a major stumbling block for the Syrian government. The trigger for the crisis was the worst drought for 40 years. Wheat production halved whilst the barley crop largely failed. Livestock farmers were especially affected, with about 100,000 losing their herds entirely. Agriculture normally contributes about 25% of GDP but in 2008 the government was forced to import wheat for the first time since the early 1990s.

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